First of all, despite the fact that most people in the US seems really confused about this (census questions, etc), race and ethnicity are two very different things. My race is caucasian, but I consider my ethnicity to be Southern American (note, not South American, but Southern US). While many people don't consider that an actual ethnicity, some researchers do. Southerners do have enough common traits that set us apart from others to meet the definition of an ethnic group.

First of all, despite the fact that most people in the US seems really confused about this (census questions, etc), race and ethnicity are two very different things. My race is caucasian, but I consider my ethnicity to be Southern American (note, not South American, but Southern US). While many people don't consider that an actual ethnicity, some researchers do. Southerners do have enough common traits that set us apart from others to meet the definition of an ethnic group.

race [reys] Show IPAnoun1. a group of persons related by common descent or heredity.2. a population so related.3. Anthropology .a. any of the traditional divisions of humankind, the commonest being the caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negro, characterized by supposedly distinctive and universal physical characteristics: no longer in technical use.b. an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.c. a human population partially isolated reproductively from other populations, whose members share a greater degree of physical and genetic similarity with one another than with other humans.4. a group of tribes or peoples forming an ethnic stock: the Slavic race.5. any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc.: the Dutch race.

eth·nic [eth-nik] Show IPAadjective1. pertaining to or characteristic of a people, especially a group (ethnic group) sharing a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like.2. referring to the origin, classification, characteristics, etc., of such groups.3. being a member of an ethnic group, especially of a group that is a minority within a larger society: ethnic Chinese in San Francisco.4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of members of such a group.5. belonging to or deriving from the cultural, racial, religious, or linguistic traditions of a people or country: ethnic dances.